Chapter 49: My Husband's Twin

She threw her head back and laughed, trying so hard to adjust her phone and at the same time, fold the clothes into her trolley. Finally, after months of planning and being sad whenever Hussain"s request of a leave got rejected because of how congested things are, they were finally able to get the chance to go to the honeymoon they had spent months planning now, and she couldn"t be happier. She was excited, so much that she could bring the two days that remained for them closer.
"Mama, I really told you this, I love him!" Recently, since after the three months they had promised their mothers, Mama would just randomly call her and ask if the decision of staying married to him was hers, if no one had forced her.
"But I could remember how unhappy you were at that time, Nadia. You spent the night crying and you didn't even want to leave Abuja that day. Also..." Mama sighed, "I dreamt about your father last night, and he was asking if his babies are happy, so I got really guilty, are you happy, Nadia?" Nadia felt overwhelmed at the thought of that and despite the stink of tears she could feel in the brink of her eyes, she quickly pushed them away and felt swayed with an emotion that was now familiar other; grief.
You see, you will never stop grieving for the ones you love and lost. Time may surely make it feel less painful, but there are days, just like today, when the pain will be back and you"d find yourself swarmed in despair. "Mama," she nearly choked on her words, but still managed to smile. She wanted to convince her mother once and for all that she was happy in this marriage, she wasn"t convinced nor was she forced into saying she wanted to stay in the marriage.
"Yes? Tell me whatever it is, okay? I'll surely accept your decision." She smiled at the sadness that lingered around Mama"s voice and also the determination that Nadia knew if she made a comment of not wanting to stay in the marriage, Mama would surely do whatever it took to end it for her sake.
"I love him, Mama. And it"s not because he has Hassan"s face or does everything like him. He"s different from him yet so much alike that I don"t even know how to make you understand it. But I love him, so much, in fact. And I'm so happy staying in this marriage, I wouldn't have asked for anything better. Please, you shouldn"t bother yourself about this, okay? I really am so happy and I feel blessed to have him as my husband." It wasn"t until today that she applauded herself for never telling anyone about that divorce, she knew Mama would have surely held onto it and make a reference, or even say she didn"t want her to stay with him if he could divorce her over such a trivial thing.
Mama sighed and exhaled a deep breath that Nadia knew was the end of this conversation, forever. They spoke for more than an hour and it was the phone call Nadia had needed. Just because she had missed her family and would have loved it if she had stayed more than just few days with them and because, Mama was hardly in the mood for long phone call, this only came once and for all. And so, she used the opportunity and relinquished it the best way she could.
When they were done with the phone call, she stared at the trolley she had set her clothes and that of Baby H"s inside, thinking of how if Sohila was around, she never would have had to deal with the child and maybe, they wouldn"t have even went together with him, she chuckled at the thought and quickly sent a we"re missing you over here, Momma," sent message to Sohila.
She realized, her favorite Modanisa Abaya, the last one Hassan had given her, which had became her favorite now wasn"t in the closet and she needed to wear it. Reminiscing the moment he had given it to her after she had complained endlessly about their first day and how he had ruined her day and her abaya and wasted her ice cream, he gave it to her, black, for the last time.
She could remember packing it inside one of her other trolleys and after she had pulled it down and taken the abaya, she was checking the other ziplocks when she saw the paper she had intended to throw away but somehow ended up forgetting about its entire existence. She smiled sadly, painfully remembering the words they had thrown at each other and what it had resulted into. She never wanted to do this again, not with him or anybody.
She took the folded paper out and wanted to tear it into pieces so she wouldn"t be able to read it even if she wanted to, but something within her heart stopped her, and she realized she wanted to read what it entailed. She sat down on the edge of the bed and with hands that were quizzical, opened the letter and started to read.
I may be angry at you now, hell, Nadia, I wish you were a man to punch my anger out. But you see, those tears I'm seeing in your eyes are hurting my heart, and I wish I could just wrap you in my arms and unsay all the things I did. I'm so sorry, but you're a bit crazy to think that I'd ever divorce you.
You know what? We both are angry, and my anger is fueled by jealousy. Do you know, that he sipped the smoothie right from where your lips touched? I wish I could strangle him, or just kiss you as hard as I wish I could, but phew! You"re a feisty one to be swayed that way. So, instead, I'd do what you said I should, in a twisted way though.
I have a thought that you may never read this, or maybe, you wouldn"t read this anytime soon, so here"s my confession that may never be known by you; I love you, Nadia. And you looked so beautiful when you smiled earlier at him. Please, you shouldn"t be making me jealous, okay? I've always been in love with you, take it easy on my heart, please.
Right now, you"re scowling your face and crying and I wish I could erase that hatred from your eyes. I'm sorry for saying all that, and I wish I could take my words back. But I'll hug you before I leave, I pray the hug will ease your pain and mine. I love you, Nadia, I wish I could say the words out for you.
Oh my god! You"re tearing at my flesh with those eyes, stop! Okay, I think a divorce letter shouldn"t take me this long writing it. You seem restless and may pass out anytime if I write any longer.
I"m sorry and I love you,
Your Husband"s Twin, (I won"t refer to myself as your husband today to avoid being ripped apart. It"s supposed to be a divorce letter, right?)
Hussain Abdulhameed Alkali.
She burst into a peal of laughter with tears at the same time. She thought he was furious that day? That he wanted to strangle her throat and make her apologize for doing what she did, but he had the heart to write this? She was wiping at her tears and laughing softly at him, at herself-for being so childish that day that if he hadn"t been the kind of man he was, they would have broken such a beautiful thing. She thanked Allah for him, for the heart he had and her love that was blooming in that heart of his.
"Singleton!" He called out from the living room and she had this immense urge to see him, wrap her hands around his neck and kiss him as passionately as she felt his love burning in her soul. So, that"s why it took him so long to finish writing that day? And she had noticed that he stole glances at her mid-way and she thought maybe he was weighing if he was going to divorce her with one, two or three talaqs. If she had known, well, she mightn"t have been so easy about the love part if she did at the time. She would have hurt him, so much.
"The movie is starting, you need to be here!" He called out again, but she was so overwhelmed and was crying so badly now to answer him. She was trying to get a hold of herself when the door opened and he gasped and rushed towards her when he saw her in tears. He sat down beside her and took her hands in his, "What"s wrong, Nadia?"
She shook her head and flashed him one of her beautiful smiles, wiping at her tears. "Nothing, I just love you too much." He chuckled uneasily at that and shook his head.
"But loving me shouldn"t make you cry, Singleton. Did I do something wrong? Do you not want to go to the honeymoon? We can always replan it, okay? Or do you just want to go back home instead? We can do that too, and I'll let you stay for two weeks in Abuja to bond with your family but you should make sure that Nazir guy of yours..." She burst laughing and placed the letter into his hands.
"Hussain, breath! You did nothing wrong, I'm honestly crying because I love you, that"s all. And..." Her eyes momentarily wandered to the paper now laying in his hand and he did the same before a soft smile caressed his lips. "Why did you write that? Up until now, I really thought you had divorced me." She chuckled and more tears rolled down to her cheeks, "I wish I had read it since then, it would have saved us a lot of drama."
He chuckled softly and pulled her to his body, "Is it why you"re crying?" She nodded her head and placed her head on his chest. "But I mean it when I said you were a bit crazy to think I'd ever divorce you..."
She cut him off softly, staring into his eyes with a smile, "I know, now that you"ve gotten me, when I've become yours in every sense there is; I'm stuck with you forever. And you love me so much, you"ve always been in love with me..." Her expression was reminiscent for a moment, "What else do you say? I should be able to memorize all your love confession lines by now." He threw his head back and laughed, hugging her as tightly as he could while she chuckled.
"I don"t assume you"d have all that memorized into your head, Singleton." She stood up and outstretched her hand towards him, chuckling softly.
"And maybe after being a bit crazy, you think I'm a bit dumb, don"t you think? You said that almost twice, everyday. How do I not memorize them? But it always feels so good to hear you say it with that manly voice of yours, and those eyes? Oh oh, they make me fall in love with you all over again."
She guided them to the living room and they sat on the soft cushions he had arranged on the carpet. They were having a movie night and the way he had arranged everything was just so romantic. "You did all this? I thought you were packing your clothes, Hussain. It looks...homely, romantic, and makes me want to kiss you so bad!"
"You tend to take me off guard with your weird and romantic confessions these days." He playfully pinched her nose and she grinned lovingly at him, "Tell, is the kiss the only thing you want to do?"
She rolled her eyes and pulled the bucket of ice cream he had kept for them. It was like a tradition for them now, and she sincerely prayed that all their children would get to love ice cream like they both did. And one thing that made him different from Hassan was-he was as obsessed with ice cream as she was.
"Will you let me in on a little secret of yours?" She asked and fluttered her eye lashes in other to enchant him and it seemed like he knew what she was trying to do, for he pulled her closer and she scooped the first spoon of ice cream into his mouth. "Pretty please?"
He chuckled and nodded his head, "What is it that you want to know? But better you know, I don"t kiss and tell. Nor do I kill and expose myself."
She laughed and nodded her head, "What differs you with Hassan? He promised to ask for your permission before he could tell me, but he has never gotten the chance to."
He seemed ruminative for a moment and she gave him her best puppy eyes. "Please, Hussain, I had to ask you myself once, remember?"
He nodded his head and turned the flashlight of his phone, flashing it around his eye, "Do you see a black spot around my left eyelid?" He said, and it didn"t take her long to locate it, she had always known about it.
"Yes, he has it too, though."
He grinned and turned off the flashlight, "His own is on the right eye, mine on the left." She gasped and shook her head, filling her mouth with more ice cream to stop herself from cussing some words out.
"Do you mean that"s what they use to differentiate you? But it"s not like it"s big enough to be seen from afar. You have to be so close to see it, Hussain!"
He laughed and nodded his head, "That"s the only difference we have. But just like you, every other person in our lives, apart from Baba, Hajia and Sohila, no one ever recognizes who"s who among us. And Sohila and Baba differentiate us base on our attitudes, I think. I'm more warm around her while he gives her that fatherly vibes. And for Baba, I'm a bit closer to him while Hassan is always with Hajia. And for Hajia, that comes to her naturally. She can differentiate us even in the dark, how she does it is still wonders to me, though."
She smiled and gulped down the pain she was sure had surpassed in both their hearts. "Can I kiss it?" She didn"t even wait for his permission when she leaned in and kiss his eyelid, lingering there for a bit and wondering how much they must"ve loved each other. To have such a trivial black spot that was barely visible separate you from your other half? It must"ve been fun to fool people, just like they fooled her.
She punched him instantly, "This is for fooling me around." She punched him again, "That is his, but since you"re his other half, you have to take the punch for him." He laughed and nodded his head.
"I can confess though, it was a bit fun seeing you that way." She turned away from him and scowled, fixing her gaze on the TV they had both forgotten about. "Come on, Singleton, won"t I get the kiss? And I even asked you whether it"s the only thing you want."
She rolled her eyes and flashed him a hard look, "Do you expect me to say I would want to cook a dish with you? I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but no. Let"s even be celibate until we leave, for just two days."
"Singleton!" He shrieked and she grinned wickedly at him.
"What? It"s not like I said forever. Just two days, Hussain." Dramatically, she gasped, "What have this man turned into? Just two days and your eyes are already bulging out?"
He chuckled and shook his head, "Okay, and I think on the day we"re cooking that dish, just be sure that the meal will surely be ready by then. Just that it will take nine months to be served." She lightly punched his chest and palmed her face shyly. He chuckled and tried to grab her shoulders but she dodged. "Can I kiss you then? I'd love to do that..." She was trying to argue when he cut her off, "You want it too, you said it yourself."
Instead of her to answer him, she took a spoonful of ice cream to her mouth and grinned mischievously at him. And instead of that to make him back out, he leaned closer to her until her back was on the sofa and she kept staring at him with her slightly bulged eyes.
"I've always wanted to take an ice cream from your mouth, thank you for giving me the chance to." He took a possession of her lips and she had to close her eyes at the surge of pleasure that seared deeply into her being. She felt as his tongue glided with hers, taking both the ice cream and her, making it a sensational experience she"d kill to feel over and over again, for the rest of her life.
The ice cream was over but they still kissed, only a few touches away from breaking her celibacy rule when they heard a baby gurgle and slowly broke apart while Baby H crawled towards him, she stared into his eyes and they both smiled at each other before he took Baby H onto his laps.
"I thought you were asleep, Baby." He kissed his forehead and she smiled, but when her eyes got to the black spot around Baby H"s right eye, she gasped. "What is it?" Hussain asked absentmindedly, playing with him.
"He has the black spot too! And it"s on his right eyelid!" She cupped the baby"s face into her hands, smiling as widely as she had never smiled. It felt as though they were holding Hassan in their hands. She looked up at Hussain and he was smiling at her, it was pretty obvious that he has seen it before. "He really is your twin, Hussain. Is it safe if I call him My Husband"s Twin?" He chuckled and pulled her to his body, hugging them both tightly to his chest.
"It honestly feels good to be called the husband." He chuckled when she pinched his arm and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Nadia, always and forever."
"And I love you too, my husband"s twin." She palmed her lips, "Oops, dearest husband." She corrected, and they both laughed at that, with Baby H"s squeals filling their ear drums. Even though the circumstances had pained and it still did, she was glad to walk on this path with Hussain Abdulhameed Alkali.
THE END!